The BBC have released a preview clip from An Adventure in Space and Time, featuring Brian Cox as Sydney Newman and Jessica Raine as Verity Lambert. Plus, both BBC America and ABC1 in Australia have released their own trailers for the drama.

Doctor Who has been honoured with a reception at Buckingham Palace to mark the series' fiftieth anniversary.

The reception was attended by past Doctors Tom Baker and Peter Davison as well as the current incumbent Matt Smith and The War Doctor John Hurt.

Held at the official London residence and principal workplace of the British monarch, the reception was hosted by Sophie, Countess of Wessex, the daughter-in-law of the Queen.

Also attending were current showrunner Steven Moffat, today celebrating his 52nd birthday, and current companion Jenna Coleman. The event was held in the Bow Room of the Palace, which had been decked out with Daleks and a TARDIS in honour of the event.

Former companion Catherine Tate was also invited as well as senior members of BBC management including Director General Lord Hall and Director of Television Danny Cohen.

Also present were children from two Cardiff schools, Gladstone Primary and Mount Stuart Primary, who entered a local competition to design a Tardis for the Queen. One of the winners, Hafza Hassan, 10, had painted a gold-plated time machine with a Union flag door, while Emily Parnce, 11, had included a dog flap for the Queen's corgis and an illuminated crown on the roof.

The status of the last part of the Destiny of the Doctor series, The Time Machine, had been uncertain since the series publisher AudioGo entered administration last month; however, the series producers Big Finish have now announced that they will be releasing the final adventure on CD and download, completing the collection which kicked off in January with Hunters of Earth.


For more details, see the Big Finish website.

The extra content for the DVD and Blu-ray release of The Day of the Doctor was revealed today - including another mini-episode.

BBC Worldwide said the 50th-anniversary episode would be accompanied by the following:

• The Night of the Doctor mini-episode
• The Last Day - a second mini-episode
• Doctor Who Explained
• Behind The Lens
• The Day of the Doctor TV trailer
• 50 Years of Doctor Who trailer

The release will also contain English subtitles for the hard of hearing, audio description, and audio navigation. The main feature will have a 5.1 soundtrack.

It will be released for Region 2 (the UK, rest of Europe, and Ireland) on Monday 2nd December (pre-order DVD, Blu-ray), and for Region 1 (USA and Canada) on Tuesday 3rd December (pre-order DVD, Blu-ray/DVD combo - two discs). Please note that the Blu-ray release will play normally on both 3D and standard Blu-ray players but the 3D will only work on a Blu-ray 3D player. Release dates for other regions are unknown at the moment.

A behind-the-scenes report on The Day of the Doctor was shown on BBC One's Breakfast today.

Presented by entertainment correspondent Lizo Mzimba, the four-minute piece included interviews with Matt Smith, David Tennant, John Hurt, and Jenna Coleman.

Watch the report below. (NB: May not play outside the UK.)

BBC Three finished its countdown of Doctor Who: Greatest Monsters & Villains on Sunday evening with the top three Monsters and Villains as voted for by viewers to the channel.

The format featured a three-minute potted history of the featured villain, followed by the screening of an appropriate episode of Doctor Who. Coming in at number 3 was the Master and a screening of the 2007 story Utopia. The episode had an overnight viewing figure of 0.51 million viewers, a 1.9% share of the total audience.

At number two were the Weeping Angels, the episode the 2007 story which introduced the Angels Blink. It was watched by 0.66 million, a 2.4% share.

Finally for the series, at number 1 were the show's longest-running villains the Daleks. The episode shown was the 2005 story which introduced the menace to a whole new generation of fans, the Christopher Eccleston story Dalek. It was watched by an average 0.69 million viewers, a 2.6% share. BBC Three was the highest-watched digital channel during the transmission of the series.

The new edition of street magazine The Big Issue - out today - marks the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who with a cover feature.

Editor Paul McNamee said: These include:

• An interview with Matt Smith detailing working on screen with David Tennant
• A piece from Who-obsessive, screenwriter, and man of letters Mark Gatiss
• Pieces from Karen Gillan and Eddie Izzard plus a panel of experts explaining what deeply-held psychological fear each Who monster plays to and why we can't escape them
• A big Doctor Who competition with prizes including a TARDIS teapot

This special edition of the weekly magazine will be available from vendors everywhere across Britain except for a pocket around Manchester and the north-west, which is served by The Big Issue In The North.

The Big Issue is written by professional journalists and helps homeless and vulnerably-housed people by giving them the chance to earn their own money. Vendors buy the magazine at a reduced rate and sell it for the cover price, keeping the difference. Please note that the magazine should only be bought from badged vendors.

If people are unable to get hold of the publication, they can e-mail office manager Robert White via robert.white@bigissue.com.

UPDATE - TUESDAY 19th NOVEMBER: The Big Issue has got £1,800-worth of Doctor Who goodies to give away, including prints, DVDs, and Weeping Angel costumes. Editorial co-ordinator Steven MacKenzie told Doctor Who News: The closing date is Wednesday 27th November. Full details are available here.

An Australian parliamentarian, George Christensen MP, proudly wearing a Fourth Doctor scarf, has presented a motion in the Australian Parliament, acknowledging the strong links between Australia and Doctor Who on the 50th anniversary of its debut. Mr Christensen mentioned the important role that a number of Australians have played in the long history of Doctor Who, including C.E. "Bunny" Webber, Anthony Coburn, Ron Grainer, Dudley Simpson, "adopted Aussie" Katy Manning, Janet Fielding and Kylie Minogue. Mr Christensen's speech can be seen here on YouTube.

The motion also proposed that the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Screen Australia and the various Australian state-based film funding bodies consider offering finance to entice the BBC to film the 2015 series in Australia to mark the 50th anniversary of its first Australian screening in 1965. The motion attracted bipartisan support and three other parliamentarians spoke in its favour.

The motion and its call for Doctor Who to be filmed in Australia has received some local media, including ABC Brisbane, ABC North Queensland, the Herald Sun and ninemsn.

Australian MPs Graham Perrett, Dr Andrew Leigh, George Christensen and Alex Hawke with a blow up Dalek spoke in Parliament on the 50th anniversary of Dr Who. Photo: Andrew Meares, Sydney Morning Herald.

.As previously reported, Splendid Chaps is a year-long performance/podcast project to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who hosted by comedian Ben McKenzie (Dungeon Crawl, Melbourne Museum Comedy Tour), writer John Richards (ABC1 sitcom Outland, Boxcutters podcast) and actress and singer Petra Elliot.

Described by its creators as part intellectual panel discussion, part nerdy Tonight Show, Splendid Chaps is a combination of analysis, enthusiasm and irreverence. The first episode went to number 1 on the iTunes TV & Film Podcast chart in Australia, and to number 4 in the UK. The podcasts to previous episodes are now available at www.splendidchaps.com or at iTunes.

Tickets are now on sale for their Christmas show! To see out this year of Doctor Who, the chaps look at all the Time Lord goodness that didn’t fit into the rest of the year, including not-quite-Doctors Peter Cushing and Richard E Grant, and spin-off K9 & Company. There’ll be special guests, songs from house band The Time Lads and a cardboard Dalek too.

This show will also be raising funds for the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC) and Medecins San Frontieres (MSF).

Space: The Bella Union, upstairs, Melbourne Trades Hall, corner of Lygon and Victoria Streets, Melbourne
Time: Sunday, December 15; doors open from 4:30 PM
Accessibility: This venue is wheelchair accessible; please contact the venue for lift access.
Tickets: $20 (including booking fee)
Bookings: via bellaunion.com.au online, or at the door (subject to availability)
Podcast: not yet available; released 23rd of December, 2013.

The BBC and BBC America have released a number of new publicity images to promote the forthcoming The Day of The Doctor; this batch includes images of Matt Smith, David Tennant and John Hurt as the Doctor, with Jenna Coleman as Clara, Billie Piper as Rose, and Ingrid Oliver as Osgood.